Chair with Beverage and Storage Features

ABSTRACT

A chair has a seat, a back an arm, a shelf, and a beverage holder. The seat and back provide a seating area for a person to sit, and the arm provides an area for resting a person&#39;s arms while seated in the seating area. The shelf is connected to the arm and extended therefrom. The shelf may or may not be integral to the arm. The arm may also provide a beverage holder. The beverage holder may or may not be integral to the arm.

BACKGROUND

Outdoor and leisure chairs provide a place for people to relax and sit either alone or together with one or more people. In relaxing alone, a person might read a book, a newspaper, a magazine, or surf the Internet on an electronic device. And when relaxing or talking to others, a person may also want to enjoy a drink, such as a glass of wine, champagne, beer, soda, water or other type of drink, using containers with stemware, beer glasses, or other containers able to hold drinks.

When reading, usually, the items to be read, such as magazines, books, newspapers, or a laptop computer must be set on a person's lap or on a separate side table. Some chairs may provide a pocket for storage, but generally chairs, including outdoor chairs including larger chairs like Adirondack-style chairs do not provide any type of built-in storage and the use of an armrest for storage or placement of books precludes the armrest's use as an armrest.

Further, while cup holders are known, one of the more difficult containers to securely hold in place on any chair is a stemmed wine glass. Stemmed wine glasses, when filled, have a high center of gravity and are susceptible to tipping. They face a further disadvantage outdoors where wind and activity will tend to knock them off balance or spill their contents.

As such the logical places for resting such glasses, such as the armrest of a chair or the floor next to the chair are inconvenient places because they are prone to the glass tipping or spilling due to accidental knocking-over or due to irregular surfaces, such as grass or sand on the ground next to the chair.

SUMMARY OF THE EMBODIMENTS

A chair has a seat, a back, two arms, one or more shelves, and one or two beverage holders. The seat and back provide a seating area for a person to sit, and the arms provide an area for resting a person's arms while seated in the seating area. A storage shelf may be connected to the arm and extended therefrom either in the back of the chair or to the side of the chair. The arm may also provide a way to securely hold a glass containing a beverage.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 shows an isometric view of the chair.

FIG. 2 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the chair.

FIG. 2A shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the chair.

FIGS. 3-5 show details of embodiments of the chair.

FIG. 6 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the chair.

FIG. 7 shows an isometric view of another embodiment of the chair.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE EMBODIMENTS

The chair described herein overcomes the disadvantages discussed in the background and improves upon known designs. Although the chair shown in the figures is an Adirondack style chair, this would not preclude incorporating the inventive features described herein in other chair styles.

FIG. 1 shows a chair 100 with a seat 110, back 120, legs 125, and arms 130. As shown in the Adirondack style chair 100, the seat 110 is connected to the legs 125 and back 120. The arms 130 are connected to the legs 125 and also an upright 127 that is in turn connected to the legs 125.

The seat 110 and back 120 provide a seating area 150 for a person to sit, and the arms 130 provide an area for resting a person's arms while seated in the seating area 150.

The chair may also have a shelf 140 connected to the arm 130 and the upright 127, and extended therefrom as shown. Such a shelf 140 gives a place to rest books, magazines, glasses, a bottle, a bag, food plates, or other items that may not be suited for resting on the ground. As shown, the shelf 140 extends from the arm 130 and behind the seating area 150 but the shelf 140 could also extend from the arm 130 to the side of the person sitting in the chair 100. The arm 130 forms part of the shelf 140 and includes an armrest portion 135 and a shelf portion 160 along its length.

The shelf 140 could be one-piece or made from several parts, with a portion 160 integral to the arm 130, and a portion 170 not integral to the arm 130.

Although as shown in FIG. 1, the shelf 140 is integral to the arm 130, a shelf 240 could be removably connected to the arm 130, as shown in FIG. 2. The removable and re-attachable shelf 240 could be attached to either or both sides of the arm 130 to provide a place to store items such as books or a laptop computer, or provide a sturdy working surface between the arms 130 for a person sitting in the chair 100. This shelf 240 can also be attached to another item such as a table positioned next to the chair 100. The shelf 240 could be attached by screws or removably attached through fasteners that do not require tools.

FIG. 2A shows the attachment of the shelf 240 using a bracket 700 that spans the shelf 240 and arm 130, and attaches to each one using screws 710. In a removable embodiment, the shelf 240 could be used as a tray for carrying drinks or food from a kitchen or preparation area to the chair 100. As shown in FIGS. 2 and 2A, the shelf may include a support leg 245 that provides extra support under the shelf 240, and this support leg 245 may fold up under the shelf 240 when the shelf 240 is being used as a tray.

FIGS. 3-5 show details of a beverage holder 180 located on the arm 130. The beverage holder 180 includes a slot 190 in the end of the arm 130, although the slot 190 could be located anywhere along the arm 130's length. This slot 190 gives a place to securely rest the stem 405 of a wine glass 410 or other stem-glass, so that the wine glass bowl 407 rests within a rounded hole resting area 210 within a recess 220 at the end of a channel 200 cut in the arm 130. The recess 220 serves the dual purpose of holding the wine glass 410 and being able to serve as a place to secure traditional glasses 510, cups, and bottles as shown in FIG. 5.

The beverage holder 180 could be an integral part of the arm 130 or removably connected to the arm 130 as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7. A removable or retrofit beverage holder 680 could work with any chair 100 or any other chair having an armrest. The beverage holder 680 includes the slot 190 and rounded resting area 210 within a recess 220 as shown in FIGS. 3-5, and could also be integrated into, or attached to, a separate table or other device designed to be placed next to or attached to the chair 100 to secure the stem 405 of a wine or champagne glass 410.

As shown in FIG. 7, the beverage holder 680 could be attached to the arm 130 using a bracket 700 that spans the beverage holder 680 and arm 130, and attaches to each one using screws 710. Other attachments means using nondestructive fasteners could also be possible.

While the invention has been described with reference to the embodiments above, a person of ordinary skill in the art would understand that various changes or modifications may be made thereto without departing from the scope of the claims. 

1. A chair comprising: a seat; a back; an arm, wherein the seat and back provide a seating area for a person to sit, and the arm provides an area for resting a person's arms while seated in the seating area; and a shelf connected to the arm and extended therefrom.
 2. The chair of claim 1, wherein the shelf extends from the arm and behind the seating area.
 3. The chair of claim 1, further comprising another arm, wherein the shelf extends from the arm and another arm and behind the seating area.
 4. The chair of claim 3, wherein the shelf is integral to the arms.
 5. The chair of claim 1, wherein the arm comprises an armrest portion and a shelf portion that are integral to each other.
 6. The chair of claim 1, wherein the shelf comprises a portion integral to the arm, and a portion not integral to the arm.
 7. The chair of claim 1, wherein the arm comprises a beverage holder that is integral to the arm.
 8. The chair of claim 7, wherein the beverage holder comprises a slot.
 9. The chair of claim 8, wherein the slot comprises a channel and a resting area.
 10. The chair of claim 9, wherein the channel comprises a cut though the arm.
 11. The chair of claim 9, wherein the channel comprises a cut though the arm and the resting area comprises a rounded hole cut through the arm.
 12. The chair of claim 7, wherein the beverage holder is removably connected to the arm.
 13. The chair of claim 12, wherein the beverage holder comprises a slot.
 14. The chair of claim 13, wherein the slot comprises a channel and a resting area.
 15. The chair of claim 1, wherein the shelf is removably connected to the arm.
 16. A chair comprising: a seat; a back; and an arm, wherein the seat and back provide a seating area for a person to sit, and the arm provides an area for resting a person's arms while seated in the seating area, wherein the arm comprises a beverage holder.
 17. The chair of claim 16, wherein the beverage holder comprises a slot.
 18. The chair of claim 17, wherein the slot comprises a channel and a resting area.
 19. The chair of claim 18, wherein the channel comprises a cut though the arm and the resting area comprises a rounded hole cut through the arm.
 20. The chair of claim 16, wherein the beverage holder is removably connected to the arm and another arm. 